The present invention relates to powered ride-on vehicles for children, and more particularly to a battery for a children""s ride-on vehicle.
Powered ride-on vehicles for children typically use a chargeable battery that supplies power to an electric motor that drives one or more wheels on the vehicle. A child rider can control movement of the vehicle by stepping on or releasing a foot-pedal switch interposed between the battery and the motor.
Ride-on vehicles are subject to being driven on a variety of surfaces, including concrete, dirt and grass, as well as up and down hills. As a result, the power requirements for ride-on vehicles vary dramatically during operation. In particular, when driving level or downhill on hard surfaces, the motor draws relatively little current, such as a current xe2x88x922-5 amps. However, when traveling uphill or over rough surfaces like grass and dirt, substantially more current is required. Similarly, when a child instantaneously starts the vehicle at full speed, such as by pressing the foot-pedal from an unactuated position to a fully actuated position, a very large instantaneous current is drawn from the battery. This current typically may be approximately 100 amps. Thus, the motor, switches, battery and wiring must be capable of handling relatively high currents.
However, the vehicles still need to protect against short circuits, current overloads and other battery conditions that can damage the vehicle as well as its rider. In the past, batteries with externally accessible fuses have been used with children""s ride-on vehicles. When a triggering event occurs, the fuse blows and needs to be replaced before powered operation of the vehicle may resume. Because the fuses are externally accessible, parents and children are able to access the fuses, the carrier that receives the fuse, and in some embodiments, the wiring interconnecting the fuse with the rest of the battery. This access is undesirable because objects other than acceptable fuses may be used when an acceptable fuse is not available. This alone may result in damage to the user, battery or the vehicle. It may also result in loosing of the terminals used to connect the fuse with the battery. Moreover, it may leave the battery unprotected against short circuits and overloads. Similarly, the parent or child may be injured, or the battery may be damaged, if the parent or child accesses the batteries"" wiring, cells and other components that are normally housed within its shell.
The present invention provides an improved battery for children""s ride-on vehicles. The battery includes a sealed housing that contains an internal circuit breaker that disconnects the flow of energy from the battery to the vehicle""s one or more motors upon actuation. Upon removal of the actuating event, the circuit breaker automatically resets to reestablish the electrical circuit connecting the battery and the vehicle""s one or more motors. The battery may alternatively include a manual reset that is accessible external the housing. Additionally, the battery may also include an internal one-shot, or non-resettable fuse.
Many other features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description which follows and the accompanying sheet of drawings in which preferred embodiments incorporating the principles of this invention are disclosed as illustrative examples only.